


Beauty and the Jock

by TheNevemore



Category: 2PM (Band), EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Granite Gardens AU, Jock - Freeform, M/M, SungSoo, all the cliches, nerd, this is my favorite ship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-15 17:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5792914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNevemore/pseuds/TheNevemore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Chansung sees Kyungsoo for the first time, it's like the heavens themselves opened. But how can a jock convince a quiet little nerd that they should date? Chansung turns to his friends for help, which, come to think of it, was probably a mistake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beauty and the Jock

**Author's Note:**

> Y'know, just more SungSoo. I've been kind of...stuck the past couple of weeks - unable to finish things - so I am hoping this helps get my muse going again. Nothing gets my muse going again like SungSoo.

Chansung had a problem.

Okay, so maybe problem was the wrong word. He had what Minjun would call a “challenge” or “an obstacle of his own creation.” Though, Chansung would probably argue that it was not his own fault. In fact, he would contend that he was the helpless, hapless victim of a destiny far crueler than words could ever hope to express. He had been walking down the hallways of Granite Garden High School when he had heard a commotion and turned. (Had this happened in a drama, the hall would have fallen into silence and the world would have slowed as he looked destiny in the doey eyes. But, since it was real life, Chansung simply swung about in what he thought was a smooth motion.)

There, standing at the intersection of the English hall and the biology hall, was an absolute vision. Okay, so Chansung was probably exaggerating again, but things always seemed that much more dramatic if he embellished just a little. In truth, the younger man standing in the hallway looked like a put upon nerd who was ten seconds away from tearing off someone’s head. His books and papers were scattered across the floor as though he had decided to play 52 card pick-up with his affects and the rest of the student body had helped make the game more interesting by kicking everything around. The poor guy was trying to stoop down to pick up his history book when someone stepped on it, which in turn meant the kid got shoved back by a careless elbow. Standing tall, Chansung frowned. And then the put upon guy looked up, making everything really feel like – just maybe – they were in a drama. When he had been bending over, all Chansung could see was his thick black hair, which was hanging down over his eyebrows as though he couldn’t be bothered to get it cut. But now that he had leaned up – while rubbing his stomach and scowling – the tall jock could get a good look at his face. Behind a pair of rather smart silver frames were the biggest and absolute most beautiful eyes Chansung had ever seen. It was like someone had taken a manga character (the girly kind that Jonghyun pretended he didn’t read but totally cried over) and given it life. Yeah, that seemed about right. The kid even had the soft sort of features that he’d glimpsed in Jonghyun’s manga before: round cheeks, round nose, round lips. Well, no, his lips weren’t round. They were full, yes – skies, were they full. But they were kind of… cute. Like they were perfectly peaked on top and a half-moon on the bottom. His sister would kill to have lips like that. If Chansung were corny, he’d claim it was like finding an angel in a garbage heap. But he was way too mature and manly to be corny.

…

Well he was!

But seriously, Chansung was worried about the poor guy. His things were being trashed and everybody seemed to be ignoring that fact. Even if the kid wasn’t the most gorgeous thing on the face of the planet, the jock would have taken the same course of action – honestly! Cutting through the crowd, which was super easy because he was so large that people just fell out of his way on instinct, he moved over to where the cutie was leaned against the wall. Stooping, Chansung picked up his math book before chasing after a notebook that had just been kicked aside by one of the girls. Magically (more like because he was like a rock in the river of students), he soon had the various books and papers gathered into an unruly stack. Turning to the stunned beauty leaning against the wall, Chansung offered him a small, crooked smile. “Here.”

Pushing his glasses up his nose, the brunette pushed off the wall and looked up, up, up at Chansung. He then, as though he expected the jock to yell “psyche!” and throw everything onto the ground again, slowly reached out for his things. Closing his fingers around the stack, he carefully eased it from Chansung’s grip like some sort of Indiana Jones switching a sack of sand for a golden relic. Chansung’s smile wobbled a little. Was he really that terrifying. “Thank you,” the beauty said suddenly, catching the jock entirely off guard. Based on the guy’s rather cute features and smaller stature (kid had to be what, 5’6” maybe 5’7”), Chansung had expected him to have an airy voice or something higher pitched like Jinki. But the kid’s voice was all melted dark chocolate – low, biting, and smooth.

Chansung blinked stupidly at him. “Uh.” He cleared his throat, trying to regain what little cool natively came with being part of the basketball team. “Oh, uh, you’re welcome.”

The nerd raised an eyebrow at him, as though utterly impressed by his lack of articulation, and nodded. “Uh huh.” He shuffled his books into size order – notebooks floating to the top – and sighed at the fact the history book had its cover torn. That would suck to pay to replace, at the end of the year. There went buying _Prince of Tennis_ on dvd for summer binging purposes. Turning, he then moved to rejoin the throng moving down the hall, though the stream had thinned to a trickle as the end of break neared.

“I’m Chansung,” the jock suddenly called, stretching up to his full height in order to keep his eyes on the nerd’s figure.

Pausing, the brunette looked over his shoulder – yet again raising his eyebrow. “I know.” And with that, he turned the corner was gone.

\---

Chansung had a problem.

No, for real: a legit problem. Ever since the encounter in the hallway, Chansung had found his thoughts filled with sweater vests and big brown eyes. He was practically haunted by the words “I know.” What did that even mean, anyway? I know what? Well, obviously, it meant the handsome nerd knew who he was, but how? The guy didn’t look like the type to go to games, so soccer and basketball were probably out. And the only people who came to his dance recitals were families of other students and his ragtag band of friends. And yeah, Chansung hung out with some of the most popular kids in the school – he _was_ a jock – but the little brunette just didn’t seem like the type to care about popularity. If anything, he seemed like he’d be shut away in some room reading, intentionally ignoring the popular kids.

But then there was the biggest issue of all: Chansung had no idea what his dude-in-distress’ name actually was! Come to think of it, Chansung wasn’t even sure he’d ever seen the brunette before. What if he never saw him again? What if that had been his one change to meet the love of his life and he had absolutely blown it? The thought alone was enough to make Chansung put his half-eaten banana down on his lunch tray before burying his head in his hands. At his side, Taecyeon raised an eyebrow and stared at the younger athlete; the younger man never left a banana unfinished.

His lamenttaions continued on as he puttered from class to class – paper-thin sneaker soles scuffing the tiles as he shuffled through the halls. Collapsing into his seat for AP World History, he heaved a sigh and let his forehead fall against the scarred surface of the desk with a hollow thud. “You okay?” a soft, light voice – one as familiar to Chansung as his own mother’s – asked from his side.

Tipping his head so his cheek was pressed against the desk, Chansung was able to take in the familiar sight of his best friend peering over at him with concern in his wide eyes. Precious Jonghyun, with his tender heart, was never afraid to ask what was wrong or hold Chansung as he “totally wasn’t crying” over losing a game. He was sometimes too empathetic for his own good, too willing to take on everyone’s burdens when his own life was full of enough sorrow for any Hollywood movie.

Chansung sighed. “I’m lovesick, Jong. And it sucks.”

The junior blinked at the overdramatic jock. “You’re what?” Last Jonghyun had heard, Chansung had sworn off love and crushes after his long-time crush Nichkhun had started dating a senior girl named Victoria. The agony of his heartbreak had been too great, Chansung had claimed, to ever entertain the thought of loving again. He had repeated that to Jonghyun at least twenty times as they watched violent historical movies while munching on a pie Chansung’s mother had brought home from the diner where she worked graveyard shifts.

“Believe me,” Chansung said, sitting up in his head, “it wasn’t intentional. I was literally just walking down the hall – minding my own business – when I saw him.” Sighing, the sophomore shook his head. “I was a goner the moment I saw him, Jong.”

“That’s…intense,” Jonghyun offered. “And pretty fast.”

“I know, I know. I mean, I don’t even know his name. I’ll probably never see him again; I’ll get over it. Maybe.” Reaching into his faded black backpack, Chansung pulled out his notebook, flashcards, textbook, and pen. After piling them onto the desk, he sighed once more – sound as though his world was moments from caving in. “But Jong, if you’d looked into his big, giant, gorgeous eyes, you’d totally get it. He is the literal most beautiful person I have ever seen.”

Jonghyun carefully straightened his highlighters into a neat row on his desk. “Wait, big eyes?” He looked back over to Chansung. “What else did he look like?”

Chansung furrowed his brow as he summoned to mind the memory of his crush. “Brunette – with like a really long bowl cut. Big brown eyes. Like, seriously, owl eyes big. Kind of nerdy and –“

“Okay, class, let’s get started. Today we will be talking about – “ Chansung just smothered a groan as the history teacher, Mr. Kim, launched directly into his lecture on Sumerian culture.

After class, Jonghyun gave the sophomore a tiny wisp of a smile. “Want to walk me to baking club?” It was a new endeavor in the school started by Kang Daesung, the sophomore sweetheart, and Jonghyun had joined as soon as he heard about it. The club literally was about getting together, baking, and then eating what they made. Which, admittedly, Chansung thought was a pretty sweet set up. As someone who really loved their food, the athlete could really appreciate a club that was literally dedicated to the worship of food. Were he actually at all competent in the kitchen, he probably would’ve hung out with them in hopes of convincing them to make banana bread or banana pudding or even just banana-shaped cookies. But, since he was completely clueless beyond making sandwiches and ramen, he stuck to his sports. At least with soccer and basketball he was very good at his job.

“Yeah, I can walk you.” Chansung shrugged. “It’s on the way to practice.” Ah, the joys of having soccer in full swing right at the start of the school year. Coach was already talking about the championships in November and about being ready to dominate; it was exhausting to hear about in September. “You’ll have to remember to come to our first home game. The team’s way better this year with Minho as the captain; we might actually win this time.”

Jonghyun bobbed a nod as he carefully packed his things away – following the same, precise order he always did. “Daesung has been talking about hosting a bake sale during the game. To help raise money for the breakfast club.” Which was as close to Jonghyun would probably get to committing to going. He hated to make promises too far in advance because, with his home life, sometimes he missing school whether he wanted to or not. Chansung understood: They’d been neighbors their whole lives.

Standing up, Chansung slung his backpack over his shoulder. “That’d be cool. You know how big of a fan I am of breakfast club.” Chansung and Jonghyun had been members of the breakfast club, which fed students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to eat three square meals a day, ever since both of their fathers had been laid off during the economic downturn. Chansung’s father had been out of work for a full year before he’d found a lower level job at the paper factory; it’d been a steep pay cut, but he’d reasoned it was better than no job at all. Jonghyun’s dad… Well, he was still unemployed.

“I know,” Jonghyun said softly, carefully walking down the hall half a step behind Chansung.

At the familiar words, Chansung sighed. (He sure was doing that a lot.) That phrase was going to haunt him until he died, he was certain of it. When they came to the home ec kitchens, where the baking club met, the athlete pulled open the door for Jonghyun. The shorter young man ducked his head a little and slid into the room, carefully looking to see who all was inside. “Hello, Jonghyun,” a particularly low voice called from somewhere deep in the room.

“Hi, Soo. Have a good day?” Jonghyun asked, moving to sit his bag down on one of the chairs near the front.

Unfamiliar with the voice, Chansung leaned into the room and searched for the source. His eyes went wide when he found a pair of familiar owl eyes watching him. The athlete stopped short, breath catching as some corner of his mind registered that Jonghyun, his precious best friend, knew the nerd. Soo. Trying to act cool, the tall jock jerked his chin in greeting to the brunette. “Sup?” Oh yes, he was the pinnacle of charm. Inside, though, he was squealing like a fangirl who had just found her favorite movie star eating at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant.

“Hey,” the brunette replied. As he smiled at Chansung, his eyes crinkled at the corners and his pretty lips pulled into a shape that could only be described as a heart. Like, for real. Chansung felt very confident you could cut out a heart and hold it beside Soo’s mouth and have the shapes match perfectly. It was eerie and adorable and amazing.

 

The athlete could practically feel Jonghyun fighting back a smile as he asked, “Oh, have you two met?” He gestured over to the gaping sophomore in the doorway. “That’s Chansung. He’s my neighbor I was telling you about. And Sung? This is Kyungsoo – Do Kyungsoo. He transferred here from Shady Oaks Prep at the start of the year.”

Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo. Had there ever been a more beautiful name in all the world? Chansung had the weird urge to write their names together and draw little hearts around it like he’d seen his sister do with her crushes growing up. It was kind of gross, actually. But at the very least, knowing that Kyungsoo was new to the school meant that he hadn’t been somehow blind to the absolute pinnacle of petite perfection in front of him. And it also meant that Kyungsoo had somehow already learned who he was – from Jonghyun, but still. “Welcome to Granite Gardens, Kyungsoo.” Ah yes, still smooth. Still collected. He was at the top of his game. “If you ever need anything – finding a class, help picking up your books – “ _a date,_ “just let me know.”

There was that heart-shaped smile again as Soo chuckled at him, the sound nasally and staccato. “Thank you, Chansung. I’ll keep that in mind.”

\---

The only way to solve a problem, Chansung decided, was to do something about it. Jun liked to say things like that all the time, claiming it was his wisdom as a senior being passed down to future generations. Minjun was particularly fond of the phrase, “Problems won’t solve themselves!” And so, like a good disciple, Chansung had decided to step up to the plate and solve his problem. If he was mad about Kyungsoo, then he just had to make Kyungsoo fall for him too.

Except, it wasn’t that simple.

Most people were pretty enamored of Chansung – he was ripped and athletic and confident and smart – but the shorter sophomore had been seemingly unaffected by his presence. Which meant Chansung needed help, because he had no idea how to actually woo someone because everyone just liked him right away and he never had to actually try to get a date. He was literally in foreign territory, uncertain of how to proceed. And yeah, he could go to Jonghyun for help, since they knew each other, but Jong was not a jock. He understood a lot of things, like how to make a soufflé and the struggles of having to eat nothing but sandwiches for two months when your parents ran out of money for anything else, but being a popular kid asking for a date? No, for assistance in that Chansung had no choice but to seek help from the expert: Taecyeon.


	2. He's Gorgeous and I Fell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taecyeon's version of seduction is more than a little questionable.

“So,” Taecyeon murmured, turning dramatically in the rickety chair perched in front of his desk, “it has come to this at last.” He even had his fingers steepled and was giving his best mafia boss face – one eyebrow arched overdramatically and a smirk curling his lips. Basically, he looked ridiculous.

“What are you even talking about?” Chansung raised an eyebrow right back at the taller man and collapsed on the bed in an ungainly heap.

Taecyeon scoffed. “Dude, you couldn’t even finish your banana. That means something real serious is going on, and when things hit the fan you always seek the wisdom of your favorite senior.”

“First, you are not my favorite senior. That’s Minjun.” Taecyeon pouted. “Second, yeah, I guess I’ve come to you for help. Because, I dunno, I know you won’t laugh too much.”

The jet-haired senior wiggled happily in his seat. “See, I’m your favorite and you just don’t know it yet!” His wide, toothy grin was enough to keep Chansung from utterly breaking his dreams of being the favorite senior, so the sophomore remained quiet. “So, Channie, what’s going on?” Dropping the tough façade immediately, Taecyeon leaned forward in his chair – arms crossed on his knees.

Chansung sighed. “So, there’s this guy in the baking club. Kyungsoo –“

“Oh, the cute short one who looks like he could murder people?”

The sophomore shot Taecyeon a glare. Kyungsoo did not look like he could murder people; he was sweet and precious and squinted a lot. “As I was saying, Kyungsoo. And…I want to ask him out. Except I don’t even know if he is interested.”

Taecyeon hummed, rolling his desk chair back and forth as he thought. “So, you want advice on how to see if he’d be interested so you don’t make a fool of yourself asking out a straight kid.” Again. “Makes sense.”

“Yeah, it makes sense, but how do I actually do it?” Chansung sighed. “It’s not like I can just go up to him and ask if he is into dudes or if he prefers chicks. That’s not exactly something you just hit people with right off the bat.”

“But it would get you a really clear answer,” the senior countered. At Chansung’s flat stare, he chuckled. “Okay, okay. I get it. You want to be subtle.” He snagged a pen off his desk and began to mindlessly click the cap on and off. “Hm. Well, I mean, if he were gay, he’d probably check you out.”

Chansung rolled his eyes. “If he were checking me out, that would’ve happened already. Not gonna work.”

“Chansung. Sung of my heart. Chanana of mine. You forget that you are endowed with a secret weapon – something that would make anyone interested in guys check you out even if they’ve known you forever.” Taecyeon grinned. “Your abs.”

Widening his eyes, Chansung seriously considered the suggestion for a moment before sighing. “Yeah, but how do I show those off? It’s not like I can just strip in the hallway. Last time I did that I got detention for a week.”

The way Taecyeon was smirking was enough to tempt Chansung to start throwing things at him: He literally looked as though he had single-handedly solved world hunger or something. Leaning back in his chair, the senior crossed his hands behind his head and stretched his legs out. “Guess it’s a good thing you came to me, huh? I happen to be on the student council event committee, so I happen to know that the baking club filed for a permit to hold a bake sale at next week’s soccer game.” He shrugged. “Seems to me like you take off your shirt after games on the regular. You’ve even got a fanclub coming to the games just to see you strip.”

Chansung’s eyes lit up. Ok Taecyeon was probably a genius.

\---

The game was going to be a great match, plain and simple. Minho had successfully put the Granite Gardens Grasshoppers into fighting form with countless training sessions and a very rigorous exercise regime. In fact, Chansung was quite certain that he would have to write the team captain a thank you letter for the fact he had actually managed to develop a v-cut; he had thought those were mythological. And, realistically speaking, the soccer team was going to need every last muscle if they were going to defeat their opponents.

Two Moon Prep was the sort of private boarding school that frequently found its way into movies. Almost all of the students were ridiculously wealthy – except for the occasional scholarship kid – and they all dressed as though they had been styled by a magazine. Literally. Their uniforms had a designer label in them. Chansung had even heard that a single pair of the regulation shoes cost more than $400 dollars. That was more money than Chansung had had at one time in his entire life. Mainly because his paychecks from his two jobs came on different Fridays and he paid bills and bought groceries for the family and stuff before the next paycheck came in. But still. It was the principle of the thing. The Two Moon Wolves (so cliché) even had an indoor training center for their soccer team and a literal legion of coaches, sports psychologists, and even a personal doctor for their team. Playing against them was like trying to defeat a dragon with a wooden sword: super difficult and really not advised. But, even with all of their money and fancy equipment, their secret weapon was one that was both entirely unexpected and entirely awesome.

Xiumin.

The tiny soccer captain seemed like the least threatening creature on the face of the planet at first glance. In fact, when they had met, Chansung had been convinced Xiumin was the water boy or a cheerleader. He had full checks and pretty, slanted eyes and the most precious little pout. And, somehow, the kid was even smaller than Kyungsoo. (If it weren’t for people like Changmin and Kris at Two Moon Chansung would think they only scouted people under 5’8” for their school, because dang were a lot of them tiny.) But then he had seen Xiumin on the field and learned the errors of his ways. The young man was an absolute terror: He played hard, thought quick on his feet, and was so unbelievably fast that he practically was half the team. The day Xiumin graduated would literally be the saddest day the Wolfs would likely face for many years, because the junior had not yet failed to bring home a championship trophy for his team. It was a little ridiculous.

But, Chansung had to admit that his mind was not exactly on the game. Well, it was, but not for the reasons Minho would be hoping for. Chansung wanted to play his absolute best not for glory or for the team or for the school, but because standing behind a table decorated with balloons and an army of baked goods stood Kyungsoo. And oh, Soo looked good. He was wearing all black – he apparently did that a lot – and was laughing as he helped people pick an offering from the selection of delicious treats on the table. (Part of Chansung wondered how quickly Minho would kill him if he just sat the game out and paid Kyungsoo to feed him for the duration of the game. Except he didn’t want to die and he was way too broke for that nonsense. But it was still a really, really awesome thought.) Rather than choose a course that would probably lead to death, playing like it was his last game really seemed like a great idea. Plus, it had the additional benefit of making Minho happy. Win-win.

The game was every inch the battle Chansung had expected it to be. Xiumin and his second-in-command Luhan were practically all over the field, playing as hard as they could. But, they had come to the pitch expecting last year’s Granite Gardens Grasshoppers to be playing. That was their mistake. Where Leeteuk had been a more reserved captain, Minho had pushed all of them towards the sort of excellence that would make them candidates to be scouted for the Junior Olympics or perhaps even lead to a professional team. In essence, he had done his best to remake the Grasshoppers in his own image. Even Chansung, distracted as he was, moved across the field with such ease and precision that even Nichkhun commented that he looked like a natural (and Nichkhun was not one to give empty praise). As the game spiraled towards its conclusion, the game was tied: 2-2. Pulling up the edge of his jersey, the sophomore wiped the sweat off his face before trotting over to where Minho and the coach waited; it was the last time-out in the game.

“We’ve got to play hard,” Coach said firmly, eyes glittering with the same passion found in Minho’s dark gaze. “I know you’re all feeling burned out, but we can do this. And if we beat Two Moons, it’ll put us in the best position to make state that we’ve ever been in. Chansung, I want you and Minho to do a speed play.” As the sophomore’s eyes went wide, the coach went on to explain to the other players their role in the ending of the game.

Who had decided he was good enough to handle so much responsibility? Chansung was fairly certain the coach had mistaken him for another Hwang – one a little less goofy and a lot more competent. But then a traitorous corner of Chansung’s mind whispered about how Kyungsoo would 100% be impressed if Chansung helped win the game. His heart stuttered. He had to try.

When they took to the field, it seemed like everything began to speed up. The ball flitted around the field, moving so fast it practically seemed to teleport from spot to spot. It seemed like a player would just get their foot on the ball and it’d already be gone – teasing the next person into thinking they would take control of it. And, as time on the clock began to run down, Chansung knew he couldn’t continue to dawdle. Steeling himself (and thinking of Kyungsoo’s doey eyes shining in admiration), he exchanged a look with Minho before tearing down the field. At that moment, Xiumin got ahold of the ball – curling his foot deftly around it and slipping it away from Doojoon. Twisting, the opposing team captain went to streak down the field towards the goal only to find six feet of muscle and nerves standing between him and his next points. Chansung - miraculously – kicked the ball away from Xiumin and looked up to see how far Minho had gotten down the field. And, of course, his over-achieving team captain was standing close to the goal half the field away. Acting on instinct, Chansung took a steadying breath before giving the ball a hard kick that sent it arching down the field – flying over the players’ heads. A wide, goofy grin turned Minho’s lips at the sight of the ball sailing towards him. Twisting, he intercepted it with his broad chest, letting it roll down the plane of his abdomen, before delivering a hard kick that sent him into a flip. The ball rocketed for the goal, hitting the back of the net with a dull _whump_.

Chansung stared.

They had scored. With a whoop, the sophomore ripped off his soccer jersey and swung it over his head as he raced down the field. As he ran, the time ran out; Granite Gardens had managed to beat Two Moons! Minho surged to his feet with a yell and, seeing Chansung, ripped off his own jersey. Fangirls and fanboys alike watched in pained awe as Chansung all but tackled Minho, their sweaty torsos pressing together so beautifully it was probably very, very illegal. Super illegal. Like, how dare they be so beautiful and sweaty and muscled? Soon, though, the young men were hidden from sight as their teammates buried them in a jovial dogpile – a profundity of butt slapping and cheering signaling their enthusiasm. Little did Chansung realize that he was being admired by more than just the Chocolate Abs Association. A certain pair of large brown eyes traced over his figure as his jersey lifted away from his skin. Kyungsoo could not help but admire the breadth of Chansung’s shoulders and the way his tan skin shone with sweat. And then there were his soccer shorts, which were both a gift and a curse: Chansung’s shorts hung low on his hips, as though they were moments from slipping further down. Their position allowed Kyungsoo to see – and sigh over – the way the sharp indents at the other sophomore’s hips. Everything from the – was that an eight pack? – beauty of Chansung’s abs to the way he moved to how his skin slid over his muscles was pure art. The sight was enough to make Kyungsoo want to take a picture or capture video of the moment. Because, dang son. Why did the school uniform have to include shirts?

After they had managed to shake hands with their opponents and talk to their coach and take pictures with the trophy, Chansung was finally released to go haunt the bake sale table. Jonghyun, Daesung, and Kyungsoo were working on cleaning things up – the last of the baked goods had been snatched up by the crowd as they had departed the game. (Internally, Chansung lamented the lack of cookies in his life, but he would survive. Probably.) Walking over to the table, Minho trailing along beside him, the sophomore blinked at the sight of Xiumin standing there happily chatting away to Kyungsoo. In fact, by the looks of it, Kyungsoo knew Xiumin pretty well, if the teasing and laughing was anything to go by. Still shirtless and suddenly shy, Chansung deviated from his course towards the object of his affections and instead walked up to Jonghyun. “You made it!” he said brightly, his wide grin curling his lips easily.

The shorter man smiled softly. “I did say I’d try.” His shoulders danced in a shrugging motion. “And I needed to help with the bake sale.”

“Looks like it was a success!” Chansung just barely resisted the urge to steal a look at Kyungsoo. Okay, so he totally he didn’t resist the urge. He looked over at the other sophomore and was surprised to find Soo staring at him. The shorter student’s large eyes seemed to suck the soul clear from Chansung’s body before their gazes broke; Soo returned his attention to Xiumin. Chansung sighed softly, causing Jonghyun to laugh.

“Yeah, the bake sale was a success,” he drawled. "Among other things, apparently."

At that moment, Minho walked up behind Chansung and leaned his chin on the younger man’s muscled shoulder. “Hey Sung, this your friend you told me about?” Jonghyun’s eyes went wide as he stared at the tall, well-muscled soccer captain.

From where he stood next to Kyungsoo, Xiumin shook his head a little. “Dang, Soo. If you don’t want him, I’ll take him.” He jerked his chin towards where Chansung stood, Minho still hanging off his back and Jonghyun shyly staring at his shoes.

Kyungsoo started, staring at his friend with wide eyes. “Minseok! What is that supposed to mean?”

Minseok, who preferred to go by his nickname Xiumin, smirked at his friend. “Soo. How often does a guy walk around shirtless while sneaking glances to see if you’re checking out the goods, huh?” He snorted. “He’s interested. And didn’t you say he helped you in the hall the other day?” Xiumin’s eyebrow arched playfully. "Seems like our little Soo has an admirer. Just wait until I tell the boys."

Ducking his head, Kyungsoo tried to hide the blush that was coloring his cheeks. “Shut up, Minnie.” That just made Minseok cackle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here is a very late little update! Bless Taecyeon, but I don't know if he knows how to get a date. xD In the next chapter, Sung is going to continue his quest for Kyungsoo's affections - heaven help him. Hopefully I'll be able to get that up soon.
> 
> Let me know what you think! As always, thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Meet part one of this thing that I have no idea where it came from. Well, actually, not true. Lilspydermunkey was giving me ideas to help me get unstuck (because heavens have I been in a rut where I can't finish anything). She suggested a high school au where jock!Chansung likes nerd!Kyungsoo. Somehow...it blossomed into this. There'll be other shorts written in the Granite Gardens AU by other people, because it's basically a sandbox world, so keep an eye out for those too. Basically, we're having fun and letting loose a little. I'll try to have the next part up in the next day or two, but we'll see how fast I manage to be. Sorry for the fact this is an un-betaed mess. I'll try to clean it up tomorrow.  
> As always, long live the great ship SungSoo! Comments, feedback, and random observations are always loved. <3 Thank you for reading!


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